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Chapter 273
Ocean (海 Umi) is the 273rd chapter of manga, Baby Steps. Characters in Order of Appearance *Soji Ike *Ronnie Medberry *Eiichiro Maruo *Alex O'Brien *Pete Gonzales *Hisashi Kanda *Krishna Ramesh *Atsushi Taira *Marcia O'Brien Summary Exhaustion is starting to build up on Eiichiro due to the intense warm-up he had with Ike, practice matches and a 3km run in the beach. After the run, he is approached by Marcia and is challenged to play beach tennis with her. Synopsis Ike finishes his warm-up. Ronnie tells Ike that was a good pace, but he can still become tougher. Ike tells Ei-chan that coach (Ronnie) is a demon, but recently he (Ike) has acquired the confidence that he can maintain his performance from the first match to the championship, thanks to Ronnie. Ei-chan apparently remembers how exhausted he'd been in the match against Kanda, and the prospect of being able to keep up his performance from the first match to the championship has him attempting Ike's warm-up for himself. He discovers that just one lap (400 meter dash + 400 meter jog back) is already hard. He's shown managing just 2 laps, but maybe he actually does 3 before he concludes that 10 is impossible, because Ronnie tells Ei-chan not to push himself so suddenly. If Ei-chan is going to do it, he can start with 3 laps every other day, then if he doesn't feel any fatigue the next (no warm-up) day, he can increase his routine by one more lap. Ei-chan thanks Ronnie and Ike, then takes his leave. As Ronnie and Ike head to the courts for Ike's training, Ronnie tells Ike he understands Ike's feelings, that there's something about Ei-chan that makes Ronnie want to help Ei-chan for some reason. During the afternoon training, Ei-chan's body feels heavy because of the "warm-up," but he thinks he has to maintain his quality of play. After Ei-chan misses the target cone and makes way for the next guy, Atsushi asks him why he's already tired compared to yesterday. When Ei-chan says he's fine, Atsushi tells him his eyes and response to the ball are good, but his preparation before and follow-through after hitting the ball are slow. He shows Ei-chan a recording of Ei-chan on a tablet (another new development at the academy), which allows them to view on court the take from the monitor room, then shows a comparison with a top-class player. Ei-chan sees for himself the difference: his preparation is slow and his follow-through sluggish. Ei-chan wonders what sort of training he'd have to do to catch up with Ike. Even though he didn't intend to take the other guys lightly, he has to do something to defeat the guys above him. After training, Ei-chan and the others take a 3-km run along the beach. All the other guys seem fresh, but Ei-chan's obviously struggling. Kanda asks him if he's ok. Ei-chan says he is and apologizes for making Kanda worry. Kanda says if Ei-chan collapses he (Kanda) would probably have to do something, then requests that Ei-chan not drag his feet. He adds that the portions where the sand isn't stable can train the upper body, but those portions are physically exhausting. He also tells Ei-chan that if he thinks the sense of distance is the same as level ground, he'll get hurt, so he requests Ei-chan to be careful. Ei-chan remembers that match with Kanda and thinks his first priority is physical strength. They're met at their destination by Atsushi who says there's a bus waiting for those guys who give up, so they have the option of taking it for back to the academy after a 20- minute rest. Pete jumps into the water. Alex asks him what he'll do on the trip back. Pete says if he runs, he'll get dry, then encourages everyone to join him. Alex refuses, preferring soccer or beach volleyball. Ei-chan thinks everyone else has strength to spare. Ei-chan gets hit by a soft, light tennis ball. It turns out Marcia is there and she recognizes Ei-chan. Kanda is apparently shocked that yet another girl is friendly with Ei-chan. Ei-chan tells Marcia—in Japanese—that she's gotten really mature in such a short time. She asks him what he's saying and tells him to speak English. Then this dark-skinned guy tells Marcia that Ei-chan said she's become sexy. Marcia is shocked and asks, "Really?" Still speaking Japanese, Ei-chan responds with "Saying sexy is a bit..." Marcia says Ei-chan doesn't seem like he'd be able to say something that smart in less than a year. She demands what he's been doing in the nine months and hasn't he been studying English. He replies in English that he's been playing tennis and hasn't been speaking English much, then adds that he's happy to be able to meet her again. Marcia says she's also happy and gives Ei-chan an interested smile that has Kanda making a face. Anyhow, it turns out Marcia is playing beach tennis. The dark-skinned guy with Marcia explains beach tennis is a sport that blends beach volleyball and tennis and is kind of similar to badminton. He introduces himself as Sawa and says he's a beach tennis pro. Apparently beach tennis doesn't have much of a history but it's becoming popular and there are courts even in Japan. When Ei-chan asks what Marcia is doing there, she says it's also training, not just messing around. Sawa explains that beach tennis can train the legs and torso, and the movements are similar to those for tennis, so recently there are players who adopt it for training. When Sawa offers to let Ei-chan try, Marcia challenges him to a game. She adds that if it's beach tennis, she won't lose. Navigation Category:Volume 29 Category:Training at IMG Academy Arc